Thursday, February 25, 2010

Easy Pasta Lunch for a Crazy Busy Day

We've all had one of those days when we're a little like the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, you know the line..."I'm late, I'm late for a very important date". And btw, I am counting down until Tim Burton's 3D versioncomes to town - March 5th.

Today has been like that... I put up some split pea soup(I had to add some lentils too - too thin and no more split peas in the house, oh well). This because I bought even more short ribs (this time flanken style) - after that amazing braised short rib recipe, I've got flanken on my brain. Again I digress, please bear with my scattered brain - in fact, it really demonstrates how frenetic my day is.

Off to a doctor's appointment (nothing to worry about, just a check up), short respite at a lovely coffee house here in town - The Wired Monk, after which I raced home to write about it for Yelp.Caand realized that I have to get everything else done before 5pm to attend the Savour Food & Wine Show (lucky me and if you're in Halifax, I think you could possibly beg and get a ticket). I'll get to taste delicious dishes whipped up by top chefs from Nova Scotian restaurants and sip martinis, wines and beers from Nova Scotian producers (it is a celebration of all that Nova Scotia has to offer) - don't worry, my Honey will be dropping me off and picking me up after it's done.

Which brings me back to some of the things left to do before getting ready (I probably should do some exercise...nahhhh, probably not going to happen.) I have to eat, I want to make supper so my Honey doesn't starve and ...well tomorrow is Presto Pasta Night Roundup, so I don't have much time to get my entry in.

Solution - whip up some pasta and make enough so Honey has supper. Which led me to pick up some OlivieriWhole wheat Five Cheese Tortelloni and because, I often think "cheese" when needing comfort, my "sauce" had even more cheese - the last of the herb & garlic Boursin, last of the Chevritagoat cheese (somewhere between Brie & Camembert) about 1 cup of ricotta, some lemon zest and juice plus a grinding or two of black pepper and tossed with some chiffonade fresh basil leaves. Add a little pasta cooking water and - voila! a delicious, easy, stress reducing lunch. No measurements, only one pot to clean, since after draining the tortelloni, I just used the same pot and added everything else in, tossed, tasted until I was happy and ...DONE! One less thing to worry about.So what are you sharing with Presto Pasta Nights? Please send your entries to Michelle, Italian Mama Chef, this week's host before midnight tonight. Just send your links to micie66 (at) yahoo (dot) com and cc ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com

Next week Presto Pasta Night will turn THREE! I hope you join us and I hope you tell all your friends to join us too. I'll be hosting, so send your tasty treats to ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com.